


she's almost brighter than the sun

by eponinethenardiers



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Courfeyrac singing the little mermaid, Courfeyrac the Shipper, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Songfic, Super awkward Combeferre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-04
Packaged: 2018-01-21 22:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1566341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eponinethenardiers/pseuds/eponinethenardiers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a prompt asking for eppieferre baed off the song Candlelight by Reliant K</p>
<p>Combeferre is an awkward duckling, Eponine has no idea what is going on, and Courfeyrac is shipping his two best friends.</p>
<p>Kinda lots of Eponine-stanning and sorta Mary-Sueing, because Combeferre is a lovesick puppy wearing crush-goggles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	she's almost brighter than the sun

_”Descartes is wildly overrated.”_

Of all the first impressions Combeferre had had in his life, Éponine’s was his favourite. She hadn’t hesitated in falling into the chair across from him, trying to hide her eagerness as she launched into a debate. He could tell she was showing off, underneath the shrugging shoulders and bored expression. It was almost impossible for him to keep the smile off his face as the young girl poured her every thought on his favourite philosopher to him, sparring with him with ease and confidence despite having never spoken two words to him before.

_To know her is to love her_   
_I’m going undercover_   
_To catch a glimpse_   
_But not get caught_

She came into his life like a whirlwind, and she never stopped from there. She was a hurricane: unpredictable, daring, confrontational, everything he wasn’t. Some days he swore she was made from more fire than blood and bone, a candle burning brighter than the sun.

She fell into Les Amis with ease, and anyone could see why; she was shameless, beautiful, unafraid. Her skin was woven from secrets, yet she was an open book, casually dropping snippets of her life before them as if it were nothing.

A place was found for her with every member, except for him. Marius was her best friend before all else, but Enjolras and her would converse and debate passionately through the nights, Courfeyrac would spend his evenings eating dinner with her and Gavroche, Grantaire and her would go out drinking until they were the only thing holding each other up. He watched her learn how to make fans with Feuilly, box with Bahorel, dance with Jehan, joke with Bossuet. She seemed to fill every crack in their group, yet she skimmed over him every time.

_But to see her_   
_Could be worse_   
_If I don’t get my head straight first_   
_On second thought I guess I’ll not_

He watched boys come and go, her heart break and mend, drama rise and unfold, and with it all, he only became more and more impressed. She was an addiction, an enigma, sitting on a throne too high for him to reach.

"Oh for god’s sake, ‘Ferre, just talk to the girl."

Combeferre’s snapped from his reverie by the exasperated sound of Courfeyrac’s voice to his left. He blushed under his friend’s knowing gaze, ducking his head down in embarrassment.

"She’s never going to notice you if you don’t talk to her," Courfeyrac sighed, handing him another beer. 

"What would we talk about? We’re the exact opposites of each other."

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes, seconds away from slapping his best friend. “The first night she came here, you talked for three hours about philosophy. I think you’ll find something.”

Combeferre opened his mouth to protest, but before he could speak he was cut off by Courfeyrac shouting, “Hey, ‘Ponine!”

Her head snapped towards them, and she quickly excused herself from Cosette to head over. A brilliant smile lit up her face as she strutted towards them, plopping herself down right besides Courfeyrac.

"Yes, boys?"

"Combeferre’s being boring and I can’t stay to force him out of his comfort zone. I’m leaving the task up to you."

He kissed her swiftly on the cheek before sending a sly wink at Combeferre, standing up to go talk to Jehan. Éponine flashed her smile at him, making his stomach swoop.

"Long time since we last talked," she commented, inching closer to him so their shoulders were touching.

"Um…yeah," he stammered lamely, the edges of his lips curling into a smile. 

"Are you avoiding me?"

"Of course not!" he insisted, shocked by her question. Was he really acting so distant from her?

"Well, it’s just it feels like the more time I spend around here, the less and less you speak to me," she shrugged. "I just assumed…"

"You assumed wrong," he assured her, his blush growing.  _I must look like Jehan_ , he thought as he tried to hide his face. She giggled at him before taking his hand in hers.

"Come on, let’s go outside. It’s boring in here."

He let her drag him through the back doors, her hair whipping into his face with the winds. Suddenly they were on the terrace, surrounded by the mid-summer flowers Musichetta had planted and cared for every day since they had met her. The aroma was impossibly strong, wrapping around Combeferre’s head and squeezing until he no longer remembered what real air felt like, but remarkably pleasant as Éponine’s fingers stayed intwined in his. A part of his brain couldn’t help but lean closer to her as he registered the way her musky scent contrasted with the flowers; whiskey and sharp nutmeg dancing over the soft, sticky sweetness of roses and jasmine.

"Why don’t you like me?" she suddenly asked, turning to stare directly into his eyes. He spluttered under the intensity of her gaze, for once in his life not knowing what to say.

"I told you I haven’t been avoiding you—"

"You’re still not exactly jumping to spend time with me. Is there something I did, because you may not be avoiding me but you sure don’t seem like you want to see me."

"That’s not true."

"Then tell me why you always look like I’m the last person you want to see."

His heart hammered in his chest, the pounding of blood echoing in his ears as his mind spun. For once in his life, he felt speechless, the words vanishing from his lips despite the thoughts clustered on his tongue. How could he even begin to explain? How do you tell someone that all you want to do is be the first person they see when they wake up in the morning, to be the person to see them smile as you hand them their first cup of coffee in the mornings, to be the one to hold them in your arms and whisper nothingness in their ears?

"You have really pretty hair," he finally decided on, suddenly wishing for Enjolras’s silver tongue as her forehead crinkled in confusion. "It’s even blacker than Marius’s, but shiny, and smooth, and soft, and I can’t even look at you without wanting to touch it."

"Sooo…you won’t talk to me because my hair distracts you too much?" she asked slowly, raising an eyebrow at him as a blush filled his cheeks.

"No, no, oh god, I’m explaining this horribly, I must sound like Marius…you…you have this skin, and it’s scarred and calloused and usually bruised or rubbed raw from injury or cold or whatever, but it just looks like silk and caramel despite all of that, and it feels so warm and soft when you touch me even though it’s textured like sandpaper.

"It’s like, you," he explained, every muscle in his body screaming at him to run. He could face a protest with a battle cry and stand his ground as police threw tear gas in his eyes, and yet  _now_ , talking to a girl he had known for months, he wanted to run. “You’re rough and unapologetic, you’re vain, you’re selfish, you don’t take shit from anybody and know what you deserve and like being pampered, and I like that. I like that even though you’re never the first one to rise to a cause, no matter what mistakes you make, you always do the right thing in the end. I like that when you roll out of bed and don’t bother to dress up, your hair is a total rat’s nest and you have bags under your eyes and you still look like the most beautiful girl in the world. You seem like you’re all scars and sarcasm and this tough-girl stereotype, but you’re actually one of the smartest and bravest girls I know, and you’re fiercely devoted and loyal, and you’re just like silky sandpaper and I don’t understand how that works, but I like it. And I really like you, and I can’t talk to you because around you I forget how to be sensible and logical and everything I usually am because all I can think about is how much I want to be with you.”

He was nearly panting when he finished, adrenaline coursing through his veins at the revelation he had been holding in for months. Éponine only stared back, her mouth dropped into a small ‘o’. Fear flooded him as she remained silent, thoughts racing to overanalyze every pore of her frozen expression.

“Éponine, I—”

"SHA LA LA LA LA LA DON’T BE SCARED, YOU GOT THE MOOD PREPARED, GO ON AND KISS THE GIRL!"

Combeferre snapped his head away from Éponine at the sound of Courfeyrac’s shriek-singing, embarrassment flooding his face as he realised what was happening. 

"Oh my god," he groaned as he saw Courfeyrac standing in the terrace doorway, and unapologetic grin beaming on his face as he sang. The rest of the Amis stopped what they were doing to look at him, glancing between Courfeyrac and the couple with interest. Wicked grins flashed across their faces as the scenario laid itself out before them.

"SHA LA LA LA LA LA DON’T STOP KNOW, DON’T TRY AND HIDE IT, HOW YOU WANNA,  _KISS_ THE GIRL,” Jehan, Bahorel, and Feuilly chorused, walking forward to join Courfeyrac. 

"SHA LA LA LA LA LA FLOAT ALONG, AND LISTEN TO THE SONG, THE SONG SAYS KISS THE GIRL," they sang, Grantaire provided sloppy ‘ _woah woah_ 's in the background.

"I am sorry," Combeferre quickly apologised, avoiding her eyes. "I swear I had nothing to do with—”

The words died on his tongue as Éponine slammed her mouth against his, her hands reaching to tangle themselves in his hair. He froze for a moment in shock before melting eagerly into the kiss, clutching her as closely to him as she could possibly fit. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard the assorted whoopings and cat-calls of his friends, but in that moment his only world was Éponine, her taste, her smell, her touch, and they could bugger off.

She broke away from him after several long, lazy moments, pressing her forehead to his as they grinned. “God, ‘Ferre, I’ve been waiting eight months for that.”

"Sorry," he whispered half-heartedly, unable to shake the beaming smile plastered across his face. "So, uh, do you maybe want to get coffee sometime?"

"Combeferre."

"Yes?"

"We’re in a coffee shop right now."

"…right."

She laughed, a small controlled giggle that swept across his face instead of her usual hoarse bark. She linked their hands by their sides, her slender fingers fitting perfectly between his. Her lips found their way to his ear, her breath heavy against his skin.

"Y’know, if you want them to stop bothering us, we could just go back to yours—”

She couldn’t even finish her sentence before Combeferre dragged her off her feet and through the Musain. Their friends continued to belt out song lyrics behind them, a distant haze behind their laughing as they ran out onto the street. Their lips crashed together once more, even more frenzied and ecstatic than the first time as the months of tension unraveled around them. The occasional glances and hidden smiles seemed to amplify in their memories as they realized what each one had meant.

Combeferre almost couldn’t help but laugh as they kissed, their differences showing even then. She seemed to attack, tangling her hands in his hair and pushing into him with an uncontrolled desire, punctuating her kisses with nips and groans. He was patient, fighting to slow down and taste every moment, letting his hands linger over every inch of her with a painful deliberateness. The more she pushed, the more he teased, which only made her push more. They clung to each other shamelessly as they stumbled back to his apartment, ignoring the judgmental stares of his neighbours as they fell through his front door.

* * *

The light streaming through the window lit up against the sooty canvas of her hair and glowed against her bare skin. Before he could stop himself, Combeferre dragged his finger up her arm, admiring the softness of her skin under the thin layer of sweat still clinging to her. A small smile teased itself onto his face as he remembered the night’s activities.

"Are you watching me sleep?" Éponine grumbled, completely unmoving. "That’s pretty creepy, ‘Ferre."

He grinned at the goosebumps following the trail of his finger, ignoring her snide remarks.

"Well, you’re clearly not asleep, are you?" he retorted, leaning in to press a quick kiss to her lips. She smiled against him, neck twisting to meet him halfway.

"It’s the thought of it," she said against his lips, one hand creeping up his chest to hold his neck.

"Oh shut up," he murmured affectionately, shifting so she was positioned underneath him. The piercingly bright green of his eyes met the soft, warm brown of hers, falling into stare neither wanted to break.

"I have work," she finally whispered, reluctantly breaking away from his gaze to glance at the clock. She crawled out from underneath him, not bothering to wrap the sheet around her as she searched for her clothes. "I’ll come by tonight?"

"I can pick you up from work," he shrugged, trying to hide his eagerness at the thought. She flashed a knowing grin at him as she pulled on her shirt.

"Slow down there, ‘Ferre. You gotta buy me dinner first."

"Oh, so  _this_  was the first step, dinner is next?” he teased. She only smiled and pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead.

"You have a meeting today," she reminded him. "You should get dressed. I’ll be round at five."

With a final peck on the cheek, she let herself out. His grin stretching his cheeks to painful widths, Combeferre reached for his phone. He groaned at the screen.

'79 missed messages from Courfeyrac’

**Author's Note:**

> Candlelight by Reliant K: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGv0ANmPUm8  
> Kiss The Girl from The Little Mermaid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axZ6mG__ZqU


End file.
